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Outside The Box

think outside the box

Fig. to thinkfreely,notbound by old,nonfunctional, or limitingstructures,rules, or practices.(As if thinking or creativitywereconfined in or limited by a figurativebox.Comparethiswiththinkinsidethebox.)Youwon’tcome up withgoodideasuntilyouthinkoutsidethebox.Let’sthinkoutsidetheboxfor a minuteandtry to find a bettersolution.

This flexible English phrase is a rhetoricaltrope with a range of variant applications.

The metaphorical “box” in the phrase “outside the box” may be married with something real and measurable — for example, perceived budgetary[13] or organizational[14] constraints in a Hollywood development project. Speculating beyond its restrictive confines the box can be both:

(a) positive— fostering creative leaps as in generating wild ideas (the conventional use of the term);[13] and

(b) negative— penetrating through to the “bottom of the box.” James Bandrowski states that this could result in a frank and insightful re-appraisal of a situation, oneself, the organization, etc.

On the other hand, Bandrowski argues that the process of thinking “inside the box” need not be construed in a pejorative sense. It is crucial for accurately parsing and executing a variety of tasks — making decisions, analyzing data, and managing the progress of standard operating procedures, etc.

Hollywood screenwriter Ira Steven Behr appropriated this concept to inform plot and character in the context of a television series. Behr imagined a core character:

He is going to be “thinking outside the box,” you know, and usually when we use that cliche, we think outside the box means a new thought. So we can situate ourselves back in the box, but in a somewhat better position.[14]

The phrase can be used as a shorthand way to describe speculation about what happens next in a multi-stage design thinking process.